Car inferno disrupts NYE party

HOLIDAYMAKERS were evacuated from a high-rise resort in the heart of the Sunshine Coast's premier New Year's Eve precinct last night after a suspicious fire.

Four fire trucks rushed to the Landmark building at the surf club end of Mooloolaba Esplanade after a car was reported on fire in the second level of the basement carpark.

The fire broke out about 8pm as families gathered in readiness for the first fireworks event of the evening across the road.

Firefighters in breathing apparatus searched the smoke-filled carpark after initial reports that some people may have been missing, but everyone was later accounted for and no injuries were reported.

There were unconfirmed reports that a suspicious person, believed to be a young man, was seen running from the scene.

The Esplanade was packed as evacuees mixed with the crowd that had already gathered in the foreshore park area waiting for the 8.30pm fireworks.

“There's people milling about everywhere,” a witness said.

An Emergency Services spokeswoman said one car was extensively damaged and two cars parked on either side were also damaged.

The carpark also received extensive smoke and water damage.

The fire was extinguished within about 10 minutes, but carbon monoxide extractors were needed to clear the smoke from the carpark.

The fireworks continued as scheduled and many revellers further along the Esplanade remained unaware of the drama that had occurred.

Early numbers at New Year's Eve events at Caloundra and Mooloolaba seemed well down, but the crowds had swelled by 8pm in both areas.

Janine Simons, the Sunshine Coast council's senior events officer, said about 13,000 people had gathered at Mooloolaba by about 7.30pm but she expected the crowd would hit the expected mark of 20,000 later in the evening.

At Caloundra, where the New Year's Eve event was relocated to The Events Centre during the week because the Kings Beach amphitheatre park was waterlogged, nowhere near the 1200 free tickets were taken up.

However, organiser Rhonda Pattinson's last-minute decision to organise some sideshow alley stalls and carnival rides for Kings Beach turned out to be the right one.

“There's people everywhere. Oh my God, it's unbelievable. I've never seen so many people at a New Year's Eve event in my life,” Mrs Pattinson said.

“There'd have to be 6000 or 8000 people here. You can hardly walk.”

The crowd was expected to grow further by the time the fireworks went off in tandem at the beach and the Caloundra transit centre.

“We'll have to have two major fireworks at Mooloolaba and Caloundra next year,” she said.